Topical Tropes

These are what we call the 'YMMV items.' Things that some people find in this work. We call them 'your mileage might vary' because not everyone sees these things in the same way. This starts discussions in the trope lists, a thing we don't want. Please use the discussion page if you'd like to discuss any of these items.

The Books:

Is Tris a brave, compassionate, sharp but self-doubting heroine who is worth rooting for, or is she an angsty, self-absorbed person with little human decency despite her upbringing, and some sort of constant mild concussion that blinds her to the bleedin' obvious?

Was Eric's eulogy to Al a sincere Pet the Dog moment, or was it a lie simply to make himself look good? While Tris thinks it's the latter, Living Lie Detector Christina didn't point it out.

Base Breaker: Al. Some fans were really sad that he died and felt his death was a tragic cautionary tale against withholding forgiveness. Other fans felt that he deserved to die and that Tris was right not to forgive him.

Considering the reaction to his character being cut from the first movie, Uriah seems to be this.

Hype Backlash: Fan reaction to Insurgent and particularly Allegiant has been far milder and in some cases even downright negative in comparison to how Divergent was received.

It's Popular, Now It Sucks: Even more so than The Hunger Games, as The Hunger Games is still typically considered to be great dystopian literature, whereas it's extremely hard nowadays to find people who will openly admit to liking Divergent despite being a major critical and commercial success initially.

Numerous candidates for when Peter crossed this. Shining examples are how he stabbed Edward in the eye while he was sleeping. Then there was the time he hung Tris over the chasm (claimed it was just to scare her) and groped her chest, while mocking her for "feeling twelve".

For Caleb, betraying his family to the Erudite. The full information about the outside world and what Jeanine told him has yet to be disclosed. But regardless, it doesn't change the fact that he sided with the faction that killed his parents and helped with the capture and attempted execution of his own sister.

Four. He's actually an Abnegation transfer named Tobias who left because his father, Marcus, constantly abused him.

Al is arguably the biggest one in the entire series. He didn't belong in Dauntless from the get-go and only joined to make his family proud, when he clearly belonged in somewhere like Amity. His entire initiation experience is agonizing and terrifying to him, and he grows more and more distant until eventually, when it's clear that his only choices are factionlessness and death, he joins with Peter and Drew in their attempt to murder Tris, regretting it immediately afterwards. It gets worse when Tris coldly rejects his pleas for redemption, despite being fully aware of his mental state and the intentions behind his actions, which leads to his suicide. A major What the Hell, Hero? moment for many readers.

Tris, by the end of the first book. During initiation, she is bullied, verbally harassed, and sexually assaulted for being a "Stiff", becomes a victim of attempted murder, drives one of her friends to suicide, watches her entire world and society crumble around her, is forced to shoot one of her best friends (who was mind-controlled), loses both of her parents, and is nearly shot and killed by the boy she loves (who was also mind-controlled). Her mental state continues to spiral downwards in Insurgent, to the point where she is nearly Driven to Suicide in the Candor Headquarters, and only holds back because she thought it would be ungrateful towards her parents, who sacrificed their lives for her. She also turns herself in to Jeanine without any escape plan, and the text makes it abundantly clear that she actively wants to die at this point.

Wangst: Depending on the reader, Tris's endless agonization over everything might be off-putting.

The Films:

Broken Base: The announcement that Uriah will be cut from Divergent and saved for the sequel, The Divergent Series: Insurgent. Some believe that Uriah's purpose in the first book wasn't that important, while others that love the character still call heresy on it. It's Tom Bombadil all over again.

Critical Dissonance: The film received mixed reviews from critics, but was generally well-received by audiences and fans of the book, and had a massive $55 million opening.

Some reviewers have pointed out that while Dauntless's habit of doing Le Parkour to board the overhead railway is clearly meant to embody how free spirited and brave they are the movie makes them look more like the cast of Fame or West Side Story than army recruits. Mark Kermode in his BBC review also thought their jumpsuits looked "a bit Blakes Seven", which may become Narm Charm for some viewers.

Tris's pained squealing in The Divergent Series: Insurgent during the trial in Candor.

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